For the past three years, Jeanne Ruddy Dance has been able to provide free in-school residencies to students at Simon Gratz High School and Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia. Each year, JRD Principal Dancer and Outreach Instructor Janet Pilla collaborates with faculty at each school to present a six-week, ten-session residency for students.
About twenty young adults were selected based on their interest in dance, and included ninth, tenth and eleventh graders. Ms. Pilla instructed the students in the Limon Technique, with the residency culminating in a performance and research papers. This year, JRD Company dancer Deondre Horner assisted Janet for the six-week residency.
Thank you to the Marthe La-Velle Williams Foundation for support of this project. Through generous funding, we were able to provide full scholarships to all students who participated. Without this support, we would not have been able to present the joy of dance to these students.